A Lesson Before Dying : A Novel

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Summary: in knowing others we know ourselves better.
Review: RIVETING!! DEEP!! MOVING!! main characters are truly believable. neither is a man in the beginning,but both are men in the end, and great men to boot!

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Summary: The lesson I learned from A Lesson Before Dying.
Review: "A Lesson Before Dying" taught me a lesson I didn't know I needed to learn. I am young woman from North Dakota. My life experience is so detached from that of Grant and Jefferson and all of the other characters of Ernest J. Gaines' book, yet I was compelled to know more about them and their lives. Their world of post-war Louisiana opened my eyes to the struggle of the rights I have taken for granted. I learned about the courage that a hard fight requires, I thought I knew, I did not.

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Summary: HEART WRENCHING AND POWERFUL!
Review: THERE IS A BOOK THAT COMES AROUND ONCE IN A PERSON'S LIFETIME THAT TOUCHES THE HEART STRINGS AND OPENS UP THE FLOOD GATES, SUCH IS "A LESSON BEFORE DYING". NOT ONLY WERE THE CHARACTERS BELIEVEABLE, THEY WERE MEMORABLE. I SIMPLY COULD NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN. THE BOOKS TWO MAIN CHARACTERS WERE ENTHRALLINGLY P0RTRAYED. I CRIED TILL MY HEAD STARTING HURTING. DEFINITELY A MUST READ!

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Summary: An excellent lesson for life
Review: A Lesson Before Dying teaches a lesson we can all learn about life. The ability to stand tall when life is at its worst is in all of us, along with an ability to reach out and touch others. This is book is inspiring, moving, and disturbing at the same time. An excellent piece of work!

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Summary: Wonderfull book!!!!
Review: This was a great book! My childen and I read every day,then at night before bed we all talk about what we read that day. I have always taught the kids that the color of a persons skin does not matter.So when I talked about this book it really upset them!My ten year old girl was really upset. Her BEST friend is a colored girl and they are together ALL the time.They are like sisters.If you have not read this book,Get it and read it. You will love it!

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Summary: The lessons are obvious; the laughter is there, too.
Review: The lessons of this book are obvious and all too common. I cried, sure. But I also laughed. I saw no mention of the Nativity show produced by the plantation school children. Reading this made me laugh first, then I saw the true beauty of the poor black children's faith with so few physical possessions to make them smile. Their love and trust in God (and their teacher) sustained them. It was a story as much about these children as it was about Jefferson. I will never hear the word "hog" again without thinking about this book. I pray more dedicated black males seek careers as educators so that more black males, especially, will have as positive a role model as Grant, even though he did not fancy himself as one. Delores Meyers ([e-mail]), Dearborn, Michigan USA

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Summary: The book was eye-opening and written from the heart.
Review: I couln't put the book down. It seemed like everytime I had a spare moment I was reading it. The relationship between Grant and Jefferson, although strained,was very emotionally connected. While Grant wasn't sure how to help Jefferson, Jefferson was so reaching out for Grant to help him.

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Summary: A short decievingly profound cultural metaphysical study
Review: This is a decieving multileveled read. The background setting, racist Southern poverty in the 1940s with a stinging realism written by someone who knows and feels. Education and painful awarenesses in conflict with the status quo. The local black man college educated returning home to the plantation as a teacher, suffering the disillusionment of God, religion and the American way of life meets an innocent man sentenced to death and expected to feel God's grace. The teacher who's struggle with the world and a loving God in a time and place where a black man can be likened to a hog. I felt like I could relate to this man and I thank Mr. Gaines for that.

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Summary: Who is the lesson for?
Review: I really enjoyed reading this novel. It gives a taste of family dynamics, of generational struggle to adavnce fruther,and of individual struggles. I was enthralled with all the characters, Miss Emma, Jefferson, and most of all Grant. His aunt had forced him to give the lessons to a sentenced man, but in the end it is also Grant's lesson. He learns about life and his choices. Grant achieves inner peace when he accepts and values his job and why he is where he is. It is hard to say who learned the toughest lesson. There were many times in this novel when I thought (hoped, prayed) Jefferson would be vindicated and be set free.

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Summary: An Unforgettable, Spiritually Moving Novel
Review: This novel was heartrending and beautiful. I would recommend this book to anybody over the age of 18 who would like a realistic account of what it might have been like to be African-American during this time period. The story shows the spiritual growth of two men, one a teacher and one a wrongfully condemned man as their lives come together. Buy a box of tissues.